Chief
by spree7101990
Summary: Meredith Grey, world renown neuro-surgeon, has been offered the position of Chief of Surgery at Seattle Grace Hospital. This story takes us through her life, love and friendship during her stay. Meredith/Mark, Addison/Derek Will be M later on in the chaps
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter** 1

If there was anyone in the hallway of the hospital near the conference room they would see the new chief of surgery walking towards the door. They would hear the black stilettos clicking on the tiled floor and the small mumbles of the owner of the stylish pair of shoes. They would see that she was wearing a black pencil skirt hugging the thin curves and the white blouse that showed just enough at the throat exposing the tan glowing skin of the woman beneath. Her hands were twisting together in anticipation before she brought one up to pat her long dirty blonde curls, no doubt making sure she wasn't a nervous wreck like how she was feeling on the inside. But if anyone were in the hallway looking at the new chief of surgery they would see a stylish, put together 30 year old woman who knew exactly what she wanted and would stop at nothing to get it.

Meredith Grey glanced at her reflection in the glass of a window and adjusted her skirt over her legs again and looked back down at her pocket watch, anxious for when Richard would announce his retirement and her appointment as chief. She glanced around at her surrounds and grimaced in distaste at the disorder the staff seemed to have left the place; she didn't know if that was because of the haste they left to attend the conference call or if it was just the way people worked. Whatever it was, Meredith knew that she would have to change it since she wasn't running a hospital that was messy…especially if it was on purpose. She pulled her sleeves further over her wrists, wishing she had brought the jacket that went with it but she hadn't because she was used to the weather down in Sans Francisco and she hadn't realized Seattle would be wet and dreary compared to the warm sun and high temperatures of her last home.

She sighed again and smiled warmly at a nurse who walked by, but seeing the barely veiled assessment given to her by the woman, she grimaced in distaste and twisted a piece of hair in between her fingers. This hospital would be exactly like her last one; a pure gossip run mill that thrived on the embarrassments and lives of its staff…the only difference was the damn weather. Meredith shifted on her heels again and leaned her small frame against the wall in irritation. She thought she was getting away from a life like that and it was the only reason she had accepted Richard's offer to take over the run of his hospital…that and the fact that she was now running her own hospital.

The door to the conference was a few feet in front of her and she could hear the excited murmurs of its occupants and became slightly more nervous at the prospect of meeting them for the first time. If she had had her way, today would have been a refresher of everyone's memories; she had wanted to fly down a week ago to familiarize herself with the facility and its staff but Richard had told her not to, and the first time she had been in the building was yesterday…and he had made sure that no one knew who she was at the time. Meredith had been absolutely livid with him when she found out he was hiding her; she wasn't used to the idea of being hidden as if she was ashamed of something, she wasn't that kind of person. But Richard had convinced her that it would be better to meet them all today instead and had told her that he had his own reasons for not letting his residents and attendings meet her when she first came. So she trusted him and let it drop and now she was outside of a conference room waiting to be told she could come in at Dr Webber's signal and surprise the hell out of his staff…not something she was honestly looking forward to. She wasn't very comfortable with the idea of a surprise since she hated them herself, but this was her mentor and father figure so she trusted him.

She was Meredith Grey, new chief of Seattle Grace hospital, and brilliant past head of neurology at Sans Francisco General hospital and a beautiful, wealthy single woman.

----

Mark Sloan, head of plastics at Seattle Grace, stood with his arms crossed in the corner of the room, surveying its occupants with mild curiosity. He shifted his scrub clad legs and leaned further on the wall supporting him, running his hands over his short brown hair. None of them could shut up about the news that Richard Webber would announce his successor soon and the fact that there were only four people who were in the running; Derek, Addison, Burke and him. He smiled proudly of that fact, though secretly he had no real desire to run the hospital, he had a life and he wasn't willing to give it up…though if he was asked he would do it. The thing was he didn't really care that much about the position; he only participated in the race for chief because he thought it would be fun and interesting, besides he had made sure the others were on their toes. He was just that good.

Mark grinned cockily at his thoughts and turned to look at his best friend and fellow surgeon Derek Sheppard who was leaning on the wall next to him. "So who do you think got it? Addie?"

Derek scowled and closed his blue eyes as if in mock pain. "God I hope not…she would never let us live that down for the rest of our lives."

Smiling he pointed to their other competition, "Burke then?"

Derek shook his head and laughed lightly under his breath, "After the thing with Yang? I don't think the chief trusts him right now…I think we are the only ones who have a real shot at this……and when I say we, I mean me."

Mark laughed loudly at his friends and took his lean body away from the wall. "Well aren't we cocky?"

"Surgeon's curse"

He laughed along with Derek again and turned his attention to the approaching retiring chief of surgery who was heading to the front of the room with quick strides. "Well I guess we will find out soon."

Mark listened to the chief tell the staff about recent developments with a new surgery he wanted to try out and then when he paused some first year resident raised his hand, asking loudly what was on everyone's mind; the new position. He watched as he noticed how Richard was shifting nervously from foot to foot as if in anticipation for the answer he was about to give and then saw that the man had given up whatever pretenses he was going to use to broach the topic.

Richard took a deep breath and folded his hands in front of his chest. "I'm very happy to be giving up my position and hospital in the capable hands of my friend and fellow colleague. I know that I will miss this place very much, which is why I am staying as head of general surgery with permission from the board…and though it is a major salary reduction (at this many people chuckled at the weak joke) I am very proud of my replacement. She is a great surgeon for her age, one of the best in the country and I am delighted to have her fill my place."

At the mention of a 'she', Derek and Burke visibly deflated and Mark smiled knowing that Derek's comment about Addison not letting it go after was so true. He watched as Addison's face lit up and she turned victorious eyes to Callie before stepping forward a little bit in anticipation for Richard to call her name and she would no doubt join him at the front. Twisting a little he saw Richard motion for O'Malley to come over to him and he watched as the intern/resident to be walked towards the door with a rather perplexed look on his face. When he opened the door and disappeared behind it, Mark knew something was up so he shifted his eyes back to Richard and waited for an explanation.

Richard cleared his throat and continued where he left off, talking about how she was a famous neurosurgeon who worked with even more famous surgeons in her field at Sans Francisco General, eventually becoming the head of neuro there and earning herself a reputation as first in the country and second in the world. Mark shifted his glance to Addison again and saw that she had a confused look on her face since she expected it to be her career that was being described and a little cheated that it wasn't. He smiled ironically in her direction and then moved his head over to Derek's to whisper something smart about her. But he stopped abruptly with his mouth open when he saw the awe in Derek's eyes and the slight way his own mouth was falling open. Mark glanced suspiciously at his friend's expression and then turned to the door, watching as George walked through leaving it opened for someone to follow.

"It is my pleasure to announce Seattle Grace's new chief of surgery Dr Meredith Grey."

Derek's head snapped from his stare at Richard and turned it disbelievingly to the door way. Mark noticed again the weird way Derek was acting and watched the door, slightly nervous to see the woman who was going to walk through. It wasn't long before everyone's attention was fixed to the door and the clicking of heels on the floor announced the approach of their curiosity. When the clicks stopped Mark strained to see the body that walked through the door and when he saw her, his breath, along with everyone in the room except Richard's who was walking forward to greet her, was audibly sucked in.

Meredith Grey was of average height but she was anything but average; long legs that seemed to travel forever under the tight black pencil skirt she was wearing, a waist that was shapely but with a noticeable flat stomach under the white button blouse, tan flawless skin, a perfect oval face with high cheek bones and full soft pink lips under a curtain of silky dirty blonde hair that was in perfect messy curls. But the one thing that caught Mark's attention was the vibrant green emerald of her eyes; eyes that were casting curious glances at the staff members. When they settled on his form they stopped for a second longer, appraising him silently. He gave her a cocky smile, shifting again on his feet but after he had grinned she moved on to the others near him and he couldn't help but feel like he wanted them back on him.

She stopped, smiling brilliantly at Richard, and opened her arms to embrace him tightly before following him back to the front of the room where he had stood previously. Richard proudly let everyone get a good look at her and looked particularly proud that his staff was speaking loudly to each other about the new arrival. Dr Grey spoke quietly to him before turning her attention back to surveying her new co workers with a trained apprising eye…an eye that Mark couldn't help but flinch when it flew over him. He closed his own eyes briefly and turned to look back at Derek but his friend was still staring, astonishment and some sort of weird resentment leaking from his pores.

"Hey man, what's up with you?"

Derek broke contact with Dr Grey and shifted his eyes to rest on Mark, "That's Meredith Grey…she's…she is like the…she's just an amazing surgeon."

Mark chuckled worriedly and narrowed his gray blue eyes at him, "You know her Derek?"

He shook his head disbelievingly up at him and turned back to the new chief who was currently waiting patiently for everyone to stop talking, "You don't?"

Mark swung his head to stare at her again but remained silent, not answering Derek's question, as Richard waved his hands over his head trying to gain the attention of the flustered group of surgeons.

"People, people calm down! It's not like there's a crisis or anything, now we have to get back to work since the board is obviously not clear. But Dr Grey and I will be stepping in to view different scheduled surgeries throughout the day, and will be pitching in randomly to see different patients and residents so I want everyone to work their best to show her what it is like to work here at Seattle Grace. Thank you, dismissed." Richard waved his hands again in an effort to clear the room, smiling at the woman on his left while everyone flooded the exits.

Mark stayed back a little, not wanting to get involved with the rush of feet and bodies trying to get out of the doors faster than everyone else. He grabbed Derek's arm tightly to make sure he waited with him and then followed at a leisurely pace after almost everyone had left. He kept an eye on Meredith Grey as he left and was satisfied when her own gaze met his for a second and then turned an amused glance on his friend next to Mark who was practically gawking at her. When he realized Derek was making a fool out of himself he picked his pace up and tugged him through the door and out to the balcony, walking swiftly to put some distance between the conference room and himself.

"What the hell was that Derek? You going to drool too?"

Derek scowled at him and shrugged his arm free from his grip, "No I am not going to do any such thing, it's just…Mark that's Meredith Grey!"

Raising an eyebrow, Mark smiled questioningly at him, "Yeah our new chief…what's so great about her? Besides the fact that I'd totally do her."

Scowl still in place, he slapped his hand against Mark's shoulder, "Ha don't even think about it Sloan, I don't think you would have a chance with her."

"Are you calling dibs or just doubting my skill? I'm Mcsteamy remember? Women can't resist me."

"No I'm not calling anything, she just isn't in our league Mark."

Mark's smile quickly wiped off from his face and he stopped walking to stand beside his best friend. "Why is that? She married…though I didn't see a ring…."

"Well the last journal I read about her didn't say anything about her being married, though she might have a boyfriend, I'm not sure. Anyways leave off, Mark, she is just too…anyways I think she has a past with Richard by the way he acts around her."

"A past…you don't think…?"

Derek gasped, seemingly shocked that Mark would suggest that and poked him lightly in the chest, "God no Mark, I meant to say that Richard and her mother Elis had a thing a long time ago, or so says the chief, anyways …I don't think Richard would appreciate it if you had a one night stand with her just to prove you could."

Mark chuckled and they continued to walk towards the cafeteria for some breakfast. "Yeah but I could do it."

Derek's laughter ringed out across the hallway as the two continued chatting about a different topic; the new chief going to the back of their minds.

----

Meredith leaned slightly on the balls of her feet trying to find a comfortable position as she watched a simple heart transplant performed by….Preston Burke. She leaned forward a little and forced back a brief yawn; cardio wasn't her thing…not that it wasn't amazing in its own right…she just wasn't interested. Flicking her eyes over to the clock on the right wall of the observation deck she saw that it was a little past 2 and she still hadn't gotten anything to eat. As if in agreement, her stomach rumbled slightly and Meredith put her hand against it, hoping to quiet the small noise without the crowded room alerted.

They had been in this surgery deck for a half an hour already and she had completed making notes about the head of cardio, and had finished listening to Richard talk about how great the surgeon was. But in the first few minutes into the surgery Meredith had noticed a small tick in his left hand that worried her. She didn't mention it to Richard but she made a mental note to bring it up when they were not in the same room with noisy interns and annoying residents.

She shook her hand slightly and she itched to pick up a scalpel…she hadn't performed a real surgery since she had found out she was moving to Seattle-too busy with filling paper work out and settling in the hotel room she was currently residing in. At least until she could find a nice enough flat to live in.

Meredith shifted on her seat, glancing at the clock again and let out a soft sigh; which didn't go unnoticed by Richard who stopped talking and gave her a worried gaze.

"You okay Meredith?"

She smiled reassuringly at him and then looked back down at the OR room where Dr Burke was now clamping the aorta to allow him time to place the new heart in the chest cavity. "Yeah I'm fine, it's just that even though Preston Burke is an amazing surgeon I have to admit that I'm not all that interested in cardio…and I didn't get much sleep last night." She smiled again and placed her note pad in the large pocket in her white coat. "So if you don't mind I think I am going to go grab a coffee down at the cafeteria…do you want me to grab you one?"

Richard laughed at her explanation and shook his head, "You need someone to show you where it is?"

Meredith stood up from her seat, feeling the stares of everyone in the room on her. "No I think I remember it…you know the benefits of a photographic memory and all."She smiled amusedly at him and made her way over to the door before glancing back "Do you mind if I explore a little, Richard, by myself? No offense to your thrilling tour, I just want to familiarize myself with things and people on my own a little seeing as it's what I am going to have to do anyways."

Richard shrugged and smiled at her, standing up as well to follow her out the door. When they were both away from the eyes of prying individuals from the observation deck, he took her hand in his and squeezed briefly. "Sure Mere, when you're done just stop by my office…your office… and you can help me pack my things up to move them into my new one."

She squeezed his hand back before turning to follow the path that she knew would lead her to the cafeteria. On the way she stopped to say hello to some nurses and doctors that caught her attention and it didn't take long before she made her way over to the empty line near the coffee machines.

Meredith stood in front of them, staring at the flavors offered and grimacing when she realized that they didn't have exactly what she wanted. She was about to pick up a medium sized cup when she felt a presence behind her.

"One thing you might want to note, chief, is that the coffee here sucks."

She smiled and turned around to see Addison Montgomery standing behind her holding her own coffee and a salad. Meredith grinned happily and turned around to look at the drinks again. "Guess its something I'm going to have to fix here huh?" She grabbed a cup and poured from the French vanilla machine, snatching a few packets of sugar as she turned back around to confront her friend. "Addie! I thought that was you back in the conference room, but I wasn't sure."

Addison bowed her head a little and a bright smile stretched her lips as she followed Meredith to where the sandwiches were wrapped and waiting to be eaten. "Mere, you should have said something about coming here…I had no idea."

Meredith laughed choosing a small turkey and lettuce sub and a small bag of plain chips, bringing them with her as she walked over to the cashier. She quickly paid for the food and followed Addison as she brought her to a table near the windows. As they walked, she could feel the stares trailing her and she couldn't help but feel goose bumps. Meredith quickly sat in her seat and took a long sip of her coffee. "I don't think I like the way I am being put on show."

Addison laughed, opening her salad and chewing on a small grape tomato. "Yeah well get used to it, your chief now soo."

"Yeah I know…it's so hard to believe. I mean last month I was still head of neuro and today I now have an entire hospital under my care and I don't know anyone." She sighed and opened her sandwich, taking a little bite out of the end of it.

"Well you know me and Richard so that makes two heads you have under you that trust you. It can't be that bad, I think you'll like it here…not as warm and sunny as Sans Francisco but you will get used to it."

Meredith shrugged and surveyed her old friend, noticing the blond highlights in her red hair and the happy glow in her blue eyes. "Anyways I haven't seen you in like forever! Not since our internship…how have you been?"

Addison laughed and held her hands out in front of her as if to show her body off to Meredith, "Amazing, as you can see neo-natal surgery has been good to me…but it seems neuro has been even better to you!"

Meredith laughed along with her and looked down at herself briefly, fanning disbelief, "How could you tell? Any boyfriends I should be aware of…like hotties? By the way there are some amazingly hot guys here."

Addie shook her head and smiled faintly at her friend, "Nope I am happily single, though I have to admit I'm in the market. Maybe me and you could go bar hop like we used to!"

She nodded her head, taking a bite of her chips. "Sure, I'm in the market too, though I'm not really looking that hard."

They continued to talk for at least another half an hour until Addison got a page to leave and hurriedly apologized. Meredith laughed and shooed her away, thinking about what she was going to do now that she had finished her lunch. She could walk randomly around the hospital but she didn't really like doing something like that since it seemed rather pointless…she could find some interesting case to take over but since she had tons of paperwork to work on tonight she didn't really want the added pressure of a major surgery…

Her thoughts were cut off abruptly as she overheard a couple of interns talking about a Mark Sloan and Derek Sheppard. She listened as they described the surgery they were planning on doing to a young boy who had a large tumor pressing against his frontal lobe and optical nerves. Meredith tuned the gossiping boys out and stood up to throw out the rest of her meal she hadn't eaten. The surgery caught her interest and since she had performed something very similar to it, she wanted to see how these two surgeons worked under those conditions. Besides, Richard had told her to check out the head of neuro and the head of plastics and she hadn't found a surgery she wanted to check them out in. This seemed like a perfect opportunity so she made her way over to the board to see what OR they were in.

It didn't take her very long to find the room and head over to the observation deck. There weren't many people inside watching like she had figured but she didn't really care since it gave her more room for herself.

~..~..~..~..~

Meredith leaned up against the casing on the window and looked down upon the surgery floor, trying to make out the different surgeons and interns. She could tell right away who the neurosurgeon was in there since he was wearing the headlight and glasses that came specific for the field. Derek Sheppard was tall but not too tall, and even underneath the scrub cap she could tell that he had perfect curled hair. If she recalled he was one of the people who looked like he actually knew who she was back in the conference room. But that wasn't too much of a surprise since he was a fellow neuro surgeon and would have had to live under a rock not to hear about her work.

She shifted her focus to the plastic surgeon who was currently carefully taking out what remained of the tumor near the skull. Meredith could tell that the man was well built, even through the scrubs and the over clothes and her eyes traveled to his chiseled face. He was definitely handsome…they both were handsome but she wasn't there to check out their bodies. She was there to see how well they worked together and how well they worked period.

There weren't any major complications with the patient and 40 minutes later they had put the face back on and left the room to scrub out, leaving the resident to finish suturing. Meredith was impressed by their professionalism and especially with their skill in the OR. But she wasn't very impressed by the way they treated the nurses and interns…even the resident working with them only got to watch instead of trying something themselves.

This was a common occurrence at her old hospital; something she hated every day since she sometimes got stuck with the residents who had no idea what to do because they were taking their experiences from words in a book and not real life ones. She had hoped to fix that problem when she applied to the board there to change the rules attendings had to be able to teach their students, but nothing had happed and she had remained one of the only attendings at Sans Francisco general to actually teach her students how to do anything. When she took the job at Seattle Grace she figured she wouldn't have to deal with things like this because it was the number one teaching hospital in the states…her ideas of teaching would fit right in. She had seen that only one surgeon actually did this and Dr Bailey was only a fifth year resident, none of the attendings here wanted to teach their students…they cared more about the surgeries and the prestige they got for them.

Meredith gritted her teeth in irritation as she passed the interns in the room to reach the door way that lead out to the hall way. It bothered her more than she wanted to admit and she knew that even if she was chief now, it probably wouldn't change their habits or way of thinking.

As she walked down the hallway to get to her new office, she couldn't help but hear the praises and applause the two surgeons were getting for a surgery like that. Sure it wasn't a simple surgery but something like that wouldn't even have made the front pages at her old job; a surgeon always had to test themselves on a daily basis…out of what she could see they were way too comfortable with what they were doing. She could blame it on the fact that today might not be one of those days where the amazing surgeries weren't available but still…it was annoying to see an attending not bothering to teach their students.

Meredith stepped in her office and laughed at Richard who was holding on to a huge box filled with stuff he was moving. He was trying to carry it without falling over the couch in the middle of the room but failing miserably. She quickly reached over to carry half of it and they placed it outside for the maintenance guy to take down the hall. She followed him back in and looked around the empty office that was now officially hers. Sneaking a glance over at Richard, she went over to the chair behind the desk and took a seat in it while he took a seat across from her. She paused, thinking, and decided that since he was here anyways she would broach the topic of her irritation.

"You have arrogant and cocky attendings here."

Richard looked shocked for a second and then pulled his serious face on. "Did they say something to you Meredith?"

She shook her head and fingered her cuff on her sleeve. "No they didn't, that's part of the problem…they don't talk enough."

He shot her a perplexed look and motioned her to explain what she meant.

"Well you know why I took the position here, Richard, I hated that no one taught anything at my hospital and I figured that accepting your offer to work at a teaching hospital I would be able to be with people who thought the same."

He nodded again, "We are a teaching hospital Meredith, but why do you look unhappy about that?"

"Because no one teaches here!"

She stood up and began to pace the office, trying to get rid of the annoyance rolling off her.

"What do you mean they don't teach?"

"Every surgery that I have looked in on, the attendings weren't teaching their residents, and the interns always got the shitty end of that since the residents weren't learning how to do something. Staring only helps you learn so much."

Richard was watching her warily and shifted in his seat to get a better view. "So they weren't teaching…maybe they had a reason."

She looked sideways at him and huffed, her annoyance fading as she stared at him. "Maybe…its just so irritating…I hate cocky ass attendings." She heard his soft chuckles and looked at him with reproachful eyes. "What?"

"Well since your new here I might as well tell you your now one of those cocky ass attendings."

Meredith tilted her head and pulled a face, "How so?"

"Hmmmm… you're one of the most famous neuro surgeons of our time…and at such a young age, you are considered to be a beautiful, attractive young lady who is very much still single, your now chief of one of the most respected and most sought after teaching hospital in the states…do I need to continue?"

She mock glared at him and plopped herself down on the couch. "Fine…I'm being an ass aren't I?

Richard laughed and stood up from his chair. "No you're not; you're just not used to this place yet. Why don't you take the rest of the day off and get settled into your room? I can finish up here."

Meredith considered his proposal for a second and then shook her head smiling sadly at the amount of paper work that covered her previously bare desk. "No thanks, I think I should put a dent in that over there." Sighing loudly she shifted her attention to Richard and laughed. "I still have to get used to this place huh? Well I'm not sure what I will be getting used to when I have to sit here and do paperwork all day."

He shrugged and put his hand on her shoulder. "You'll do fine, I promise, now if you don't need me anymore _chief_ I am going to put this stuff in my office."

She followed him to the door and watched as he practically skipped down the hallway. Shaking her head again, she glanced over to the paper and sighed loudly. "I think he gave me the job because of all the things he forgot to do…" Laughing under her breath, Meredith strode over to her desk and picked up the nearest pile of papers and began to familiarize herself with her new home.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter** 2

It was pretty late in the day when Meredith looked up from her work and out the window. She sneaked a glance at the clock and sighed when she saw that it was past 8 o'clock. This was her fourth day in a row that she had been stuck up here in her office, shut off from everything going on except for the couple of administrative meetings with the board.

She hadn't seen the inside of an OR in nearly a month and she figured she would start going through withdrawal soon…since the only exercise her hand was getting was whenever her signature was needed. Meredith had met her assistant earlier that day and had gotten the impression that she was a kindly older woman who didn't yet trust her enough for her to do any favors for the new chief yet. So she was stuck in her seat filling out form after form and she knew that if she didn't get out soon she would go crazy…

A knock brought her out of her musings and she shot an annoyed look at the door, but she smiled when she saw her friend walk through it and take a seat in her chair in front of the desk.

"Addie! Whats up?"

Addison shook her head, smiling and brought Meredith's attention to a small cup of coffee in her right hand. She placed it in front of Meredith, "Coffee break, I think you need one."

Meredith nodded and took a sip of the drink, surprised that it was her favorite caramel cream that she always got…or tried to, the coffee in the hospital didn't have the flavor. "Thanks really, but I think I should get back to work, or else I will never get out of here."

The red head placed her hand on Meredith's, stopping the pen from touching any papers. "No I think you need a break, I haven't seen you in three days…and am supposed to be working with you."

Meredith sighed and rubbed her forehead, shifting in her seat to lean back comfortably. "I know, it's just I have so much paper work and it doesn't seem to stop coming…and I haven't slept very much...and I haven't had a surgery…and I don't even think I ate anything for supper……." She trailed off and looked at Addison's amused face with a scowl, "What?"

Her friend laughed and saluted her with the Styrofoam cup in her hand. "Your chief now…but that doesn't mean you can't have fun…or better yet can't have life outside of this place. That was Richard's mistake, it's the reason you are working here now in his place. Don't do the same thing."

Her eyes closed briefly and then Meredith's hand swept over the work cluttered on her desk. "I know that Addie…but what am I supposed to do about that?"

Addison smiled, thinking about it and then stood up from her seat. She walked around the desk and pulled Meredith up from her seat, grabbing her coffee and tugging her out of the office and down the hall. They stopped in front of the elevator and Meredith looked irritated and out of breath at the same time.

"What are you doing? I don't have time for a tour, and I definitely don't have time to go to any bars with you."

Shaking her head in response to Meredith's words, she pulled her through the double doors and pushed the 3rd floor button on the key board.

"Seriously Addie!"

"Oh stop complaining Mere, I have an idea but you need to get out of that office if it's going to work."

This stopped Meredith's struggles and she took a sip out of the coffee Addison forced into her open hand. She stared at her warily through half closed eyes, trying to figure out what she meant by 'idea'. "What's going to work?"

"My idea, now shut up and enjoy the fresh air…it might not be outside but it's fresher than the stale air of that office."

Meredith sighed and relaxed against the side of the elevator door, closing her eyes. "Okay I'm relaxed now can you tell me what we are supposed to be doing?"

Addison frowned at her persistent questions but gave up and grinned at Meredith, "Interns."

Confused Meredith cocked her head to the side and glared at the red head. "What about them?"

The doors opened and Addison pulled her out and down the hallway stopping at the nurse's desk. "Can you tell me where the interns are right now?"

The nurse she was talking to smirked and pointed to the hallway across from them, where Meredith could see bodies lining the walls, probably trying to get some sleep in between shifts. She glanced at the hallway and then tugged at Addison's arm, stopping her from going any further. "What are you thinking?"

"Chief's intern."

"Chief's what?"

The neo natal surgeon scowled at her friend and took a large sip of her coffee. "Chief's intern, someone to help with the going ons of the hospital so that you are allowed to get time out of the office and into an OR room like I know you are itching to do. So pick an intern to work for you, or with you and then find some surgery to put on the board."

Meredith narrowed her eyes in thought, glancing every now and then at the hallway where the topics in question were resting. "A chief's intern…is there even such a thing?"

Addison shrugged, "Richard had Dr O'Malley work for him when he was an intern for awhile, so I'm sure no one would object to you using his idea…especially when it worked out so well."

The blonde closed her eyes for a second and then nodded as she came to a decision, "Well I would need to trust one of them explicitly and I don't know any of them personally…and I do need a surgery…….but I want to watch them first before I pick one…Addie I can't just walk up to them, point, then say chief's intern and shove my work at them. It doesn't work that way, besides I would look like a complete ass and I'm not soooo….tomorrow I will take some time off to observe."

Addison shrugged but she had gotten what she had wanted from her friend so she wasn't going to complain. She was about to open her mouth to say something but was interrupted by Meredith's pager going off. Meredith quickly grabbed it and saw that it was a 911 page to the pit, so she held her hand up for Addison to wait and she turned to the nurse who was sitting near the computer.

"Can you pull up the EMT alerts? We have a 911 call and I need to know what is going on before I send my staff there."

The nurse hurriedly pulled the information up on the screen and turned the monitor so that Meredith could read what it said. She cursed loudly and took off at a run towards the stairs and the pit while pushing buttons in her pager. It wasn't long before Addison's pager went off and she stopped running enough to pull her down the stairs after her. "You don't need to check it since it's me, I paged all the on call attendings and residents down to the pit…we are going to need them."

Addison kept pace with her easily after she stopped for a second and threw her shoes off, holding them in her empty hand. Somewhere along the way they had both discarded their coffees. "Mere what's going on?"

Meredith turned her head to look back at her, and then waved her hand dismissively, "I will tell you when we get there, just be prepared for lots of blood and broken bones and all that fun stuff that I was complaining of missing a few minutes ago."

Her friend gave a humorless laugh and pushed the doors open revealing a quiet pit; there didn't seem to be any patients down here, at least that Meredith cold see but she still motioned to a nurse and ordered for all unnecessary patients to either be sent to another part of the hospital or discharged. They would need all the empty beds they could get. She then ordered another nurse to go and get enough sterile robes for the staff on call and turned to look at which ever doctors stood behind her. She recognized Sloan, Addie, Sheppard, Torres, Izzie and Karev. She had paged Richard but since he was home right now, she was probably on her own when it came to general surgery for awhile…at least until he got there. Going through her memory on her notes about her fellow surgeons but realized no one in front of her would be able to help her out with this plus the fact that they didn't have Burke there for hearts until another 20 minutes, so she would have to do it herself…"Shit"

Addison laughed and the others just looked at her confusingly for her little outburst. Meredith, just realizing she had said that out loud, closed her eyes and counted to ten. "Okay everyone, I know you don't know me very well and you probably have your own thing when it comes to emergencies like this and I don't care as long as it gets done, but I need you to know that just because you don't know me doesn't mean that you can't come to me if something is wrong…residents and attendings alike. And I'm serious about coming to me, doesn't even matter if I'm in surgery….though you better have a damn good reason for interrupting me." She paused and her eyes fell on Mark Sloan, head of plastics, and she was surprised to find herself slightly smiling at him, or was until she shifted her gaze back to the rest of them. The glance didn't go unnoticed by Addison, who was grinning devilishly behind her hand but when she saw Meredith move her gaze back to her and the rest of the doctors she quickly straightened her face and waited for her chief to continue. "This is going to be rather…hectic in here since we have a limited number of staff…but we are going to do our bes…"

Meredith was cut off by a nurse thrusting a phone into her hand and she turned around to take the call, raising her voice every now and then in response to the person on the other end. "No…we have it handled here…yes I'm sure…I'm certain that that's a viable reason Grahame but I can't authorize something like that…just send them here…I'll do whatever I can. Now I'm sorry to cut you off but I have many traumas coming in a few minutes so if you have anything else…okay good. I will get back to you later." She ran a tired hand through her blonde locks and squeezed her eyes shut tightly in irritation as she tried to control the emotions running through her.

Turning back to her staff, she saw that they were already suited up in the cover scrubs and were waiting patiently for her to finish her speech, though she did notice they were looking at her oddly. "Alright I don't have enough time to tell you everything; just the necessaries. There was a large trans-train crash not far from here, multiple traumas heading our way from the crash site along with minor patients that I'm hoping interns will be able to handle. I want Sloan, Montgomery, Torres, and Karev to be waiting for criticals' near the ambulance bay since I know for sure you will be needed. Sheppard I need you here with Stevens taking care of minors and any late comers that we are sure to be getting after the first flood." She looked around at everyone's face and realized that they were shocked that she took charge so readily…their first time figuring out why she was named chief. Meredith smiled and then shifted so that the nurse holding her yellow cover scrubs could put it over her blouse and pants. She glanced back at them again and narrowed her eyes in amusement at their still forms. "Let's go people!" When they heard her order, they all quickly moved, separating into their groups. Addison flashed a brilliant smile at her before heading over to the double doors, talking to Dr Torres quietly while Karev and Sloan walked quickly in front of them.

Meredith closed her eyes briefly and waited for the nurse to finish tying her strings behind her neck and then opened them to stare at Derek Sheppard who was standing in front of her looking pissed. She raised her eyebrows ever so slightly and adjusted the cloth before inclining her head to the doctor. "Sheppard?"

Derek shifted his feet for a second, "I want to know why I'm not out there…"

She sighed and thought back to everything Richard had told her about this neurosurgeon. He was cocky and self assured but so was every surgeon in this place, including herself, so that wasn't really anything new. But it was the reason why he was here standing, looking pissed for being 'snubbed' as he saw it. "Because I need you out here because I need someone who has this kind of experience running the trauma pit while I and everyone else is in surgery. You should take it as a compliment that out of all my attendings I would trust you with something so important."

He looked rather baffled at the compliment but still held his ground, determined to prove his point, "But you need a neurosurgeon on your team in the OR…" He trailed off, realizing his mistake and pulled an apologetic face at her.

Meredith smiled and pulled her other glove on, over the sleeve of the gown. "Yeah, exactly why I need you in here while I'm performing in there…" She grinned sheepishly at him, "Besides I haven't been in the OR in a bit soooo, I want to itch my scratch."

Derek's mouth turned up slightly at her last remark and he stepped back as she began walking to the doorway where the others were. He watched her leave but a thought crossed his mind and he stepped forward again shouting, "Good luck Chief!" and then took off in the other direction as he heard the sirens coming closer.

She didn't stop to say anything back, just kept her stride quick as she made her way over to stand next to Addie and Torres. But her friend didn't miss the smile that she had on her face and was intrigued with the look.

"What was that all about?"

Meredith lifted her head briefly to scowl at Addison's noisy manner but she turned back to face the incoming vehicles, "Nothing, just a….mutual understanding…between neurosurgeons."

Addison lifted an eyebrow in question but Meredith didn't elaborate and the ambulances had pulled up before she could say anything else, the paramedics were opening their doors quickly, rolling the patients out for the doctors to look at.

Meredith immediately took charge, sending Torres and a couple of interns with two patients with crushed legs and introverted arms. The next patient was sent with Addison since it was a pregnant mother who looked to be in premature labor due to stress. Stevens was sent with a older lady with a broken hip and abdominal pain.

After the ambulances left, the doctors that were still there were left to wait another five minutes before the others would be there. Meredith stood leaning against the wall of the hospital, careful to keep her gloves off from the white brick and closed her eyes in exhaustion.

"Long night?"

She quickly snapped her eyes open and looked at the plastic surgeon who had come over to stand next to her, Karev trailing behind not really wanting to participate in their conversation but not looking to be left out. Smiling she wiped a wayward strand of hair out of her face and closed her eyes again. "Should have been out of here awhile ago…guess I was right to stay since I would have been called back in anyways."

"Yeah this hospital does that to you."

She opened her eyes again and briefly assessed the man in front of her. Mark Sloan was taller than she was, with short, light brown hair that looked to be graying (not that it was a bad thing, on him it looked rather sexy) and vibrant blue/grey eyes that seemed to be laughing at her but also had a serious glint to them. Her first glance at him from the observation deck was right, he was athletically fit and she wondered briefly what it would be like underneath the scrubs he was wearing. There was definitely a reason why she had heard the residents call him Mcsteamy. She withdrew her eyes away from his body but not before she caught the slight grin he was giving her now that he had caught her checking him out. She blushed lightly but covered it quickly by turning her head to look at Karev.

"Have you done a surgery solo yet?"

The resident smiled cockily (_what was with it with these guy surgeons?) _"First one in my group to perform one Chief."

Meredith nodded, "Have you picked a special yet?"

Sloan decided to reenter the conversation; he had been examining Meredith closely now that he was so near to her, and crossed his arms proudly. "Karev here feels the need to go into plastics."

She glanced from one to the other, and noted the slight hesitation in Karev's eyes. "Plastics?"

Alex nodded his head but he hesitated again, "Yeah, that's my first choice."

Sighing, she realized that she wouldn't get any closer to finding out the reason for his uncertainty with the head of plastics standing right next to her. "I ask since I have to make a formal announcement in a few days that 3rd year residents have to announce their specializations. I want to get a feel for my residents before I do."

Sloan looked at her curiously, but turned away with his arms still crossed over his chest. "All of them pretty much have what they want to do; Stevens brain, Yang heart, O'Malley general, and Karev plastics. Not much need for you to 'feel around' for."

Meredith scowled at him and crossed her own arms, "That may be, but I actually want to know their thoughts about their choices…particularly when it happens to be my field they are interested in. Stevens has already talked to me about joining mine or Sheppard's team and I was wondering if Karev had any thoughts about his."

Mark held his hands out in front of him, mock backing away, smiling as he gave her a second look. He didn't take her as being feisty, and he had to admit he liked the fact that she wasn't afraid to stand up for herself, or even her employees. "Alright I get you, I wasn't making any trouble…but if you want there to be I can be more than accommodating…."

She turned away from him in disgust for his last comment and stared at the incoming ambulance. Going back to why she originally asked Karev if he performed a surgery yet she smiled at him and gestured to one of the two vehicles. "I need you, Karev, to take over this next one. I believe he is a 43 year old male with a case of 3rd degree burns on his arms and torso and a large gash to his abdomen. I want you to take care of the wound, make sure there is no internal bleeding and then focus on the burns. Since you want to go into plastics then this is a great opportunity to show Dr Sloan and myself your abilities. You need anything, or have any problem in the meantime…especially during the surgery you come get either myself of Dr Sloan. I don't want to hear about how your patient died because you were too stubborn to ask for help."

Karev looked astonished at the chance of a solo surgery on a trauma patient and quickly moved to the now parking ambulance, loudly thanking her in the process. Meredith could practically feel the resentment rolling off from Mark and she looked at him in amusement.

"Why did you give a plastics case to a resident instead of the highly qualified surgeon on your left? I didn't annoy you that much with the resident thing before did I?" He looked just as pissed at her control of authority that Sheppard had and she couldn't help but chuckle amusedly at the resemblance. Mark's lips thinned considerably and he looked like he was having trouble controlling his words; the only reason he probably wasn't eating her out right now was only that she was his boss. "What is…so funny?"

Laughing again, she gestured to the rolling gurney and the excited but serious resident and interns beside it and then back to the new ambulance pulling up beside the other. "If you really want that surgery go ahead, but I think someone as…highly qualified…as you would rather be involved with this one with me…that is unless you just want the burns…" She began to walk hurriedly away from the still staring surgeon, towards the paramedics waiting for her approach.

Shaking out of whatever stupor her teasing voice had put him in, he quickly caught up to her. "Alright you have my attention…what is this?"

She smiled and turned her head to look up at him, "A chance to work with a world renowned neurosurgeon."

Mark scowled but kept up with her anyways, "I can do that with Derek."

"Yeah, but I'm not Derek and it seems that he even thinks that a surgery with me is worth questioning a chief's orders, besides I need a world renowned plastic surgeon with me on this one."

He stuttered but hurriedly caught himself before she noticed, and grinned at the compliment she had given him. "Alright chief, you definitely have my attention."

She only smiled smugly in his direction and let the paramedic take over, giving her states and vitals about their patient. When the woman was finished Meredith looked at the child laying forlornly on the gurney, eyes closed and breathing erratic. She glanced back at Mark and then turned to the other woman who was staring at the child with sad eyes. "Family?"

She shook her head and then headed back to her side of the door, glancing back at the kid before closing it behind her. Meredith stopped for a moment, staring straight ahead for a few seconds, lost in contemplation. A questioning intern brought her out of her dark thoughts and she returned back to the task at hand, watching Sloan asses the 7 year old's broken and burned face along with many gashes and open wounds around the skull.

"Jesus, this kid has multiple fractures on almost every bone of his face…what the hell happened?"

Meredith shrugged slowly and pried his eyelids open to get a better determination of his brain activity. When she didn't find anything she could use, besides the fact that the kid was completely unconscious, she ordered an intern to get a CT scan to be set up in the OR being prepared. She then turned her attention to a now frowning Mark Sloan, "This was the trauma that Grahame called me about, the phone call earlier…you wouldn't know who that was anyways but yeah…" She dragged a breath through her throat to steady her rambling, "His name is Trevor Woods, we only know that because he was awake after the crash…which is extremely rare considering his trauma. Grahame called me about it wondering if I wanted it or if Mercy West could have a go, and since I figured you would be on the case then why not give him the absolute best care the poor kid could get in the states." She smiled but bent down to put her fingers inside the neck collar, feeling around for any problems or anomalies that the paramedics could have missed.

Sloan studied her for a second and then smiled in return. He didn't know her very well…actually at all, but he was starting to realize what made her such a good doctor. She wasn't half assed with things like some of his colleagues, and when she wanted to help someone, he could see that she wasn't just going to try something and see if it worked; she would do something and know that whatever she did was going to be enough to get the patient through. She wasn't like Derek at all, and he could see why Richard chose her over the obviousness of Derek's skill. "So how did this kids face and brain get like this?" He was gesturing to the mass of broken facial features and exposed brain matter near a crack in the skull. He didn't look good at all, and Mark wasn't sure they would be able to save his life in time.

She didn't answer right away, just waited until they shifted the boy onto another gurney that was ready for the OR and turned so that she was now headed towards the scrub-in area, pulling off her over covers in the process, dropping them in the bio hazard waste bins. Mark followed suit, keeping pace with her.

"I'm not sure about the specifics, but Grahame did mention that Trevor flew from the train's interior and ended up in a heap near a concrete wall…no one was sure exactly of what happened since everyone was more concerned with themselves during the crash. He said that they found him awake and talking, though he was his face smashed in and a huge hole in his head…"

Throughout her entire speech, Meredith was busy scrubbing in and when she finished she walked into the OR without waiting for Mark. She noticed that the anesthesiologist had already made sure that Trevor wouldn't be waking up during the procedures and she nodding in the doctors direction, thanking him for his speed. Setting herself up with her tray of tools and such, she waited for Mark to get himself ready before smiling at him and then at everyone else. "Alright people, I think this boy needs our help and we are going to give it to him."

~--~--~--~--~

Five and half hours later found Trevor Woods breathing through a tube, bruised face a large mass of swollen and irritated skin, and a large clean white bandage covering the top of his head. But even though the kid still looked bad, he wasn't nearly as bad as he was when he came through those doors and everyone was immensely impressed with the recovery he would be able to make…monitored recovery but a recovery nonetheless…that is if he ever woke up again.

Even as exhausted as she was, after the surgery she attended to every question and consult she was needed and it wasn't until 3 in the morning that she was able to breath for herself for a minute. The pit was cleared of major and minor traumas, post ops comfortably put in their beds with interns monitoring them every half hour or so and attendings and residents alike were fast asleep in any empty spot that they could find-pagers clutched in their hands in case of an emergency. Meredith smiled and ran her hand through her hair, trying to detangle the knots that had formed during the hours since she had last brushed it. It wasn't nearly as bad as she had thought; the running of a hospital during a mass trauma situation like this…Richard, when he came in, was impressed with her professionalism and authority when he learned how she dealt with the emergency and the staff.

Turning around, she placed her scrub cap in her pocket and made her way over to Trevor's room, trying to make as little noise as possible whenever she passed a sleeping co worker. Room 4037 was erringly quiet and she cringed whenever the heart beater made a noise (not that she was complaining since it meant the kid was still alive.) Meredith grabbed his chart and looked over the new notes the nurses made at the bottom of her post op form and frowned when she saw the decreased signs of brain activity. She had tried her hardest to save this boy and she couldn't accept a premature death by no brain activity…especially when she could tell that Trevor was a fighter. She saw that today in the OR room when he coded twice and still came back to live each time. Sighing, she placed the chart back down and let herself fall into the soft cushions of the chair near his bed, her head dropping into her arms that were propped up on her knees. It was cases like these that she was glad to be a neurosurgeon but it was also cases like these that she hated it. She hated it because of the not knowing; the live or die interval that families and surgeons have to go through to find out if they saved the patient.

"How is he doing?"

Meredith looked up sharply but smiled slightly when she saw it was Dr Sloan. She had grown to respect the attending while they worked together; she was impressed by his patience and delicate procedure as he pieced together the boy's facial bones and face. "Not the best…honestly…." She stopped and glanced at the boy laying on the bed and pressed her own hand to his for a second, "I'm not sure if he will even make it through the night."

Mark looked at the expression of helplessness on her face and moved to lean comfortably on the doorway. "You did everything you could to help him, frankly I'm impressed by your skill with a scalpel and even more impressed with the fact that you didn't let the verity that the boy wouldn't make it out of the OR room get to you…I can't say the same for myself."

She glanced up quickly at him to see if he was playing her but he seemed genuine in his praise. Closing her eyes for a few seconds she thought about her first impressions of the cocky surgeon and knew that there was definitely more to this hospital than she had first thought, just like Richard had told her. "I wouldn't say that Dr Sloan, I was impressed with your skill and patience. I might have saved his brain but you gave this kid his face…and future back and that's something that he will be eternally grateful for."

He nodded slowly but raised his eyes quickly to meet hers and a grin stretched his mouth. "Was that a compliment? A compliment from my world famous chief? This gives me ten times the bragging rights than any other doctor in this hospital."

Meredith sighed but she couldn't stop the smile from forming on her lips at his teasing tone. When she looked back at Trevor, however, her smile was wiped clean from her face. "I hate this part you know."

Blinking at the change in conversation and tone, Mark looked over at her hands clenched tightly in her lap. "The wait is always the worst."

She let a small chuckle escape her lips but stopped herself and raised her hands to hold the hand of the patient's nearest arm. "It's not so much that…I've done this countless times before so it isn't really new. I've had people die on my watch, I've even had them die in my arms…literally…but it never gets easy when it's a kid…especially when he is as courageous and life changing as this one." She paused for a second and turned admiring eyes on her fellow surgeon. "Can you imagine flying through the air during a train crash, hitting a wall, crushing your face and staying alive and conscious until someone came over and asked for your name? I certainly can't."

Mark smiled as he looked at the boy she was talking about and silently hoped that he would wake up and be able to tell his story to people. "Me either, though I'm not sure what I would have done since I've never been in that kind of situation before."

Meredith nodded and closed her eyes tiredly. Mark, who had been watching her, stepped forward slightly and gestured to the on call room next door. "Why don't you try sleeping? I will stay with the kid to monitor him."

She shifted in her chair, considering his offer, but shook her head anyways. "No thanks, I think I'm just going to stay here, as tired as I am I have a job to do and I intend to do it…besides I can pull all nighters…"

Laughing, he turned around and left, leaving her alone to take his own offer of sleep in the on call room instead of staying there. She was slightly disappointed but since they hardly knew each other, it would have been presumptuous to ask him to stay with her and keep her company.

She sighed loudly and looked at the boy laying on the bed, he looked so peaceful and innocent, it was hard to believe he had just went through something that was like hell on earth. Meredith shifted in her seat to find a more comfortable position, nodding at the nurse who had walked in to check the kid's vitals and such. Thoughts had been circling in her mind insistently, each more important than the other and each taking more precedent than the last. But as hard as she tried to focus on one so that she could fix it or pay attention to it, the thought rushed out of her head and a blank sleep induced quiet took its place. And before she knew it she was sleeping peacefully with her chair scooted to the edge of the bed and her head in her arms near the boy's hand.

~..~..~..~

After a brief two hour nap, Mark woke up feeling somewhat refreshed and left the room to check on his patient. When he entered the post op room, his steps faltered slightly when he saw his chief's head resting on the bed of the kid and her low heavy breathing that told him she was in a deep, exhausted sleep. He smiled and turned around to grab the blanket he had been using in the on call room and gently placed it around her thin shoulders. She would be cold soon and he didn't think it was fair that she woke up because of something that could be fixed.

He stopped for a second and took a long look at his boss and decided that even though he didn't really know her very well, he would make an effort to. Mark had been surprised and grudgingly impressed with her skill and ability to do exactly what she had set out to do. He had never seen a surgeon with such a steady and dexterous hand as she had…not even Derek could brag about that and he was the best neurosurgeon he had seen, until now that was. Richard had definitely made the right choice when he picked her over every one of them.

Turning around, he grabbed the chart and made sure that everything was going well and was happy when he saw that during the time he had talked to her last, Trevor was looking better. Mark sincerely hoped that the boy woke up, not only because he should, but because he knew Dr Grey would take it as a personal failure that the kid didn't. He put the chart down and looked back at the sleeping woman, smiling to his self; he was certain that he was going to enjoy working with her.


	3. Chapter 3

**~Alright 3****rd**** chapter up! Read and enjoy! Reviews make my day ******

**Chapter** 3

Meredith jerked herself awake, slamming her palm on the top of her alarm clock hoping to hit the small button that turned the damn ringing off. But somehow instead of it turning off, it got louder until she was forced to sit up in her bed and squint her eyes until her hand found the button and the insistent noise was cancelled out. Rubbing her eyes, wearily, Meredith pulled the covers off from her body and swung her legs out.

It was 6:45 in the morning and Meredith had yet to get a full night's sleep since she had woken up in the hospital in Trevor's room 3 days ago. She had been extremely busy since and hadn't been able to stop working since, but she had made herself check on the boy every now and then. He still hadn't woken up but it wasn't a coma sleep; it was a natural sleep and she was hoping that he would wake up soon on his own.

Since then she was busy working on charts, setting up the board full of surgeries for the other attendings, filing folders away into her own organized compartments, and then fitting in a small surgery for herself now and then. Meredith sighed loudly and ran a cold hand through her tousled long hair and stood up to head over to the walk-in bathroom. She quickly took her shower, making sure that she spent as little time as possible washing up (but being a thorough as she could) and grabbed a towel to wrap around herself as she made her way over to the closet to sort through her clothing. Picking out a teal silk cami with lace and a black dress jacket that went with the black pencil skirt she had grabbed before.

Slowly putting her clothing on, Meredith glanced at the alarm clock and nearly fell over with the skirt around her ankles when she realized she had ten minutes to go before she was late. Hurriedly throwing the skirt around her hips and snatching her black stilettos from under the hotel bed, she tripped over her purse in her hurry and ended up landing on her arm. As the sharp pain lanced up her joint, she cursed loudly and sprang up, pulling the offending purse up with her and rushed to the door, snatching her coat from the chair on the way.

She quickly punched in the number for the cab service and waited impatiently in the elevator until she got a hold of someone, but cursed again in her head when they told her it would be another five minutes before anyone would be able to make it to the hotel. Responding with a fast confirmation, Meredith tapped her heel impatiently as the doors opened to reveal a quiet lobby and a half asleep doorman. She nodded a hello and made her way over to the gold double doors and looked outside at the miserable rain that she had failed to notice when she left her apartment. Her eyes narrowed considerably and her head dropped so that she was now looking at her shoes and yelling curses at herself in her mind. _What is with the damn rain here in Seattle? And how come it's so frickin cold…._Meredith let her purse fall from her hand and pulled her coat on, glaring heatedly at the offending droplets on the glass of the doors.

It wasn't long before a loud horn jolted her out of the hatred and self pity she was stuck in and she snatched her purse from the ground and ran out the doors to quickly get into the back seat, telling the driver where she wanted to go. She didn't forget to add that she was in quite the hurry but judging from the amused glance of the man, she figured he didn't need to be told…her ruffled appearance probably gave her away at first glance.

The rain hadn't stopped when they arrived at the hospital and she couldn't help but feel jilted out of something...even if she didn't know what. _I need to get a car…soon._ She paid the driver and waved a slight goodbye before quickly walking towards the entrance of the building. As she walked she felt the droplets become larger and she held out her hand to catch a few, surprised that the water was so warm. Meredith gasped loudly when she felt the droplets turn into multiple droplets that was coming down at increased pace…pouring. She closed her eyes and then opened them again, moving her head so that she was staring up at the offensive water and her lips curled in a disdainful smile. "Seriously?!?!?!"

A couple of people stared at her but didn't stop long enough to get drenched like her and hurriedly went through the doors. Meredith sighed and shifted her purse on her shoulder and walked determinedly through the entrance doors into her hospital and over to the elevator, waiting until she heard the telltale ding of the timer.

When the doors opened she ignored the amused and confused looks she received by its occupants and stood near the front, pretending that no one existed besides her. It wasn't until she heard the concealed giggle that Meredith snapped and turned around quickly to confront whoever it was that had laughed. She stopped in mid swerve and glared at Addison who was now fully laughing at her from behind her hand while Mark Sloan and Derek Sheppard looked on thoroughly amused by the expression on their boss's face. It wasn't until Addison stopped chuckling that Meredith shifted her posture and crossed her arms over her soaking wet shirt.

"What in the world happened to you?"

Meredith scowled at her friend and turned around so that she was no longer facing them. "Rain…did you know it rains here pretty much every day?"

She heard the new laughs behind her and assumed that both men now enjoyed the same mirth Addie seemed to be taking out of her miserable state.

She could hear the laugh in the red head's voice, "Of course it rains…it rains everywhere Mere. Even in Sans Francisco."

Meredith scowled again, uncrossing her arms and smoothing her wet skirt under her hands. "I know that but it's different."

"How?" Meredith's scowl deepened as she heard the amusement in Derek's question.

"It just is, Okay…" Meredith shrugged her shoulders and bent her head so that it was facing down and ignored the continued sniggers of her supposed best friend. "Stupid, frickin warm rain during stupid frickin summer where everyone in this frickin city is all happy and shiny and cheery when regular, normal people behave like regular normal people and wake up to normally loud beeping from their alarm clock only to be un-normally late to their work where they are the normal boss of irregular happy, shiny, cherry co workers who see nothing wrong with it raining every single frickin day."

The last couple of sentences were mumbled irritatingly under her breath but they all had heard her since they were standing so close and currently all doubled over laughing hard. The doors opened revealing a couple of nurses and Dr Karev who looked shocked at the state their chief was in and even more shocked at the attendings behind her who were laughing so hard that Addison was leaning heavily against the side wall and the other two had their eyes closed in their mirth. Meredith glared at the people standing in front of her and they backed out of her way and she quickly took her leave of the elevator, sending one scathing look at them which only served to make their laughter louder.

She mumbled a 'jerks' under her breath and closed the door to her office loudly, scaring the crap out of Richard who was sitting at the small love couch she had bought earlier that week. He took one look at her irritated face, and wet clothes before shaking his head, laughing, and backing out of the room to leave her alone. Still mumbling about shiny, cheery, and happy co workers, Meredith closed the blinds to her office and locked the door. She stripped out of her clothes and laid them down on her desk, away from any paper, and grabbed a set of dark blue scrubs she had put aside for situations like this.

Her eyes snapped open when she heard the loud knocking on her door and she just barely held herself steady with one leg out of the pants and the other in. Yelling a short 'wait a sec', Meredith quickly tied the ribbon and grabbed her white doctor's coat on the chair before heading over to the door and unlocking it. Standing behind it was a still smiling Addison holding a large bundle of papers under her arm and coffee in the other.

Grumbling Meredith stood aside to let the neo-natal surgeon through and shut the door behind her. "What? Come back to further my humiliation?"

Addison laughed again but shook her head, "No, though that soooo made my day!"

Meredith scowled, but Addison was holding her stack of folders out to her so she grabbed them and took a seat behind her desk. Despite being annoyed, her face shifted into intrigued eyes and curious mouth as she read the details on the papers in front of her. Meredith lifted her head to stare at Addison who was smiling and sipping her coffee. "Why do you want me to look at these files?"

Addison shrugged and pointed to a file lower in the pile, "That one has you written all over it, but the others are cases that we want to take up and need the chief's approval."

"We?"

"Yeah, the other attendings; Burke, Sloan, Sheppard and me. Of course they won't all be done today…some aren't scheduled until next month and others until September but still."

Meredith nodded and reviewed a couple of the files, eyes widening and closing as she became interested in certain aspects of the cases. "And why are you the only one in my office?"

Addison lifted an eyebrow and looked at her rather skeptically. "After the whole thing a few moments ago? I don't think anyone is brave enough to mess with you today…except me of course…which is the reason why I am the only one here and they aren't."

Meredith scowled and mumbled a small 'damn rain' under her breath but her face turned thoughtful as she read over the case that Addison had suggested for her. She flipped it over and reread the case Sheppard had selected and frowned. "Is he trying to compete with me?"

Addison laughed and shrugged her shoulders, "Not sure anyone would have the balls to compete with you Mere…I think it's more…trying to impress a colleague in the same field of his."

Nodding her head thoughtfully, she looked up and studied Addison's amused face before leaning back in her chair. "And the residents? Have everyone chosen who they want working on the cases with them?"

The red head shifted in her chair and pointed to another folder, "I think we did, though it probably will change when the residents choose their fields of choice…Burke requested Yang specifically I believe but then you know that she is pretty solid on her choice, and Derek wants Stevens since she already talked to him about joining his service…"

Meredith nodded again and closed her eyes, tapping out a short rhythm on the folders, thinking about what Addison had said. But when she thought harder, Meredith shot out of her chair, rushing to the door and slamming it behind her in her haste to leave.

Addison sat there, utterly confused as she stared at the place where her friend and boss had once been.

Meredith hurriedly ran down the stairs, only stopping to maneuver herself around the other people using the stairs and made it to the landing where the coffee cart was. She skidded to a halt behind the long line and tapped her foot in impatience.

"Is rain really that bad?"

Meredith smiled slightly to herself and turned around to face Mark who was grinning at her with his arms casually draped across his chest and body relaxed against the railing. "No not really…just the day that usually goes with rain is never a…good…day for me."

Mark chuckled lightly and stepped away from the railing and over to stand near her elbow. "What does that mean? Good?"

She shrugged and took a few steps forward as another person grabbed their coffee from the vendor and left. "Just good I guess. It's just that for some reason, since I moved here, rain has been my downfall."

He laughed again, "Your downfall huh? Well I'm sure it can't be that bad."

"It is. Anyways have you decided on a resident that you want for your case?"

Mark looked surprised that she knew about it but when she explained that Addison had come to see her he nodded and considered the rain outside that could be seen from the large windows on either side of the walkway. "Not sure yet, Karev probably but I'm not exactly sure."

Meredith sighed and turned around to look where she was in line, jumping to move to the cart and order her coffee, smiling gratefully at the vendor. "Well I guess you have time to decide, I just don't want to leave those things alone for very long. Yang and Stevens have already been grabbed so your choices are limited, and if you can't find one then you need another attending to scrub in with you…an intern would be good too."

Mark quickly ordered his coffee and stood back staring at her like he was waiting for her to say something else. She took her own coffee that was held out to her and handed the man her five. Turning back to look at Mark she glance quizzically at his own stare but did say anything else so he gave her the grin she was beginning to associate with his Mcsteamy look.

"So really…rain? You know I can help you solve that problem."

Meredith sighed and gave him the line he was looking for, "Really and how is that Dr Sloan?"

Mark's grin spread wider and he cocked his head to the side, taking a drink from his Styrofoam cup. "We could go spend it curled up under the covers…not even give you a chance to realize that it's raining."

She barked a short laugh and took off towards the doors on the other side of the hall, "Sorry Sloan, I think I can handle my dislike of rain some other way…sorry to disappoint. Besides don't know you well enough for that!"

She could hear his laugh as she walked away, but she didn't dwell on it much since she was late again for something she had to do. It the week that the residents were to decide what field they wanted to go into and she was supposed to check in on them during their rounds with their interns but she was already late for Yang's and she figured that also went with being late for Karev's. But she wasn't too worried about it since she was their chief and had free reign of the hospital so she was really late for anything…it just bugged the hell out of her since she didn't like it.

Meredith slowed down as she realized O'Malley and his interns were just ahead of her, quickly walking in the direction of a patient's room. She raised her hand in greeting and watched with amusement when she saw the resident falter in his long stride when he noticed her. "O'Malley, do you mind if I tag along for a bit? I hear you're supposed to be checking in on my patient anyways."

George stuttered an 'okay' and shortened his pace so that she was now walking beside him.

"How has Trevor been doing?"

George stared at her for a second in confusion but she motioned to the room he was headed and he nodded when he realized what she was saying. "Good, last time I heard anyways. I just got put on this case yesterday when Izzie…Dr Stevens got assigned to Dr Sheppard instead."

Meredith nodded, already knowing that since she was the one who made the comment to Bailey about permanently switching Izzie to neuro. She followed him into the room and smiled at Trevor, who sat up in bed. He had woken up sometime last night without her realizing it and a nurse had paged her with the news last night, but since she hadn't had much sleep she let it go and figured she would get to it today.

"Hi Trevor, good to see you up! I'm Dr Grey, one of the surgeons who worked on you, Dr Sloan will come by later today, I'm sure. This is Dr O'Malley who will take care of you in your recovery." She stopped talking and motioned for George to continue and he quickly looked to his interns and one of them stepped up to present his case. During the long description, Meredith watched Trevor's limited expression and noted that Mark really had done a good job with the reparation of the bones and nerves and was happy that the kid could now have a life after the accident.

George smiled at his intern and nodded in her direction, "Alright Trevor, you're going to have to stay here for a little bit so we need to know if there is anyone who we can call, like parents or uncles…"

Trevor stared at George, and the resident shifted, uncomfortable with the silence that followed his statement. Meredith frowned a little bit and looked back at Trevor who had moved his stare to the rest of the people in the room, including her. She stepped forward grabbed his chart, surveying the nurses notes, Mark's and her own and realized with a jolt that no one had said anything to her about the limited of certain brain activity within the past 24 hours.

Meredith frowned at George and handed him the chart while moving to the other side of Trevor's bed to sit on the chair nearest to him. "Trevor do you know who you are?"

The boy looked confused for a second and responded with a quick, "Trevor."

She smiled lightly at his answer but pushed further for something more, "Yes we know its Trevor, but do you know your last name?"

He stared at her for a second and then shook his head no. Meredith silently cursed herself for not taking the page last night and shifted in her seat. "Do you know where you are?"

"I'm with Dr Grey, the surgeon who worked on me."

Meredith nodded her head in encouragement but the boy didn't say anything else so she pushed forward, hoping to get something out of him. "Trevor, honey, can you tell me your parents name? Or better yet what grade you're in so we can call your classmates to exclaim over your recovery?"

Trevor looked lost for a few seconds and then shook his head again, frowning in her direction as if he wasn't sure why she was asking him questions like that. Meredith smiled reassuringly at him before standing up and gesturing for George and his group to head outside. "Alright Trevor, I'm going to be right back, see if I can find you some pudding." The 7 year old laughed happily and closed his eyes, mouth twisting in anticipation.

Meredith quickly walked out and leaned against the wall, closing her own eyes for a second. "Alright, O'Malley I need new head scans on Trevor Woods so that I can figure out if it's something in his brain after post op or if its retrograde amnesia….god I hope it's something that I can fix…"

George turned around to order the intern who had presented to do what she had asked of him and then looked back at her, waiting to see if she was going to say anything else. When she didn't he cleared his throat and stepped forward a little so that he was near the wall next to her. "Dr Grey, I heard that he waited until someone found him to tell them his name…how could he have known that if he had retro-amnesia?"

Meredith opened her eyes to study the resident but sighed, "I'm not sure…sometimes when someone goes through something like he did the mind retains certain important information, like names or faces. I'm sure he was taught to always introduce himself to someone when he needed help or something along those lines…maybe in those few minutes while he waited he remembered everything, and then his brain went into shock and he forgot it.." She wiped a tired hand across her forehead and glanced over at George. "O'Malley these things can't be explained...trust me if I knew then I would be in there explaining to the kid why he can't remember anything. But I don't and so the only thing I…we…can do is wait to see if it's something I can fix or if it's going to be a period in which we see if he slowly remembers…….In the meantime I need you to call around and find out if any parents with the last name Woods have been brought to any hospitals after the wreak…find me this kid's parents."

George nodded and turned to leave but stopped himself, turning back to her and flashed her a warm smile. "I hope it's something you can fix too Chief…"

Meredith smiled and watched as he walked away to do what she had asked him, his interns trailing behind. "Oh O'Malley! I need you to come find me after, regardless if you found out anything." George nodded and continued on his way. She closed her eyes again and waited until she heard their footsteps turn around the corner before pushing herself off the wall and quickly making her way to the nurse's station to put an order of pudding she had promised Trevor. She then asked one of them where Yang was doing her rounds and waited for the room number.

She hurried over to the patient's room where she could hear the timid voice of a young woman explaining the case. Meredith quietly entered the room to stand near the edge of the group. A couple of the interns nearest her jumped and began talking excitedly to each other when they realized she was there, no doubt gossiping about the reasons why she was in the room. Christina didn't seem to notice since she was evaluating the intern speaking rather critically and Meredith shifted her posture amused at the obvious discomfort of the young doctor.

After the history and case were presented, Yang explained the procedure to the older man and she noticed that her voice was clipped and straight to the point. Meredith wasn't really surprised since that was the kind of doctor that Yang seemed to be and based on the different solo's she had observed, she had every reason to be cocky and self assured. But…as a doctor, it was their job to make the patient comfortable and optimistic for the surgery, not confused and short winded.

Realizing Christina wasn't going to answer the question's the man had about it since she probably had figured that it wasn't worth her attention, she stepped forward to stand on the other side of his bed.

"The surgery is rather simple, sir and I am sure that Dr. Yang will do a terrific job. If you need to ask anything please ask now since you're going to be prepped soon."

The man looked confusingly at both Christina and Meredith but he turned to Yang and started to ask questions that Christina probably wouldn't have answered if her boss's boss wasn't standing right next to her. When they were done, Meredith nodded her head to both doctor and patient and then motioned for Christina to follow her outside into the hallway. Letting herself lean casually against the wall, she watched Christina send her interns away, either to the pit or running labs.

"Alright Dr Yang I think you know why I'm here."

Christina nodded but Meredith could tell she was schooling her face into a polite one to hide whatever thoughts were running through her mind at the moment. Intrigued Meredith pushed forward, keeping and amused eye on the resident.

"Well I know that you already submitted your request to shadow Dr Burke for a cardio fellowship for the next few years, but I want to hear it coming from you, not a piece of paper. Explain your reason for the choice."

Christina frowned and shifted on her feet as if she was trying to understand what Meredith had asked. "I don't understand what you want me to do, Dr Grey."

Frowning, Meredith crossed her arms, still staring intently at her face. "I want to know, in your own words why I should put you in cardio."

"Because I'm good at it."

"I need more than that Yang…why are so interested in this particular field? I need to understand why you choose this over all the others and why you have been so set during your internship and residency that you would go into this."

Christina shifted on her feet again as she tried come up with an answer and Meredith crossed her arms now annoyed with the fact that Yang was having so much trouble voicing her reasons.

"I ask this because what you did a few moments ago and what I see you doing all the time isn't what a surgeon…especially a cardio surgeon is supposed to be doing."

The resident stared at Meredith intently, trying to figure out why her boss was upset with her, and what she had done wrong. Meredith could tell that this particular doctor didn't like being told that she had failed at something and no doubt wanted to find out so she could perfect it like she tried with everything else. "I don't understand."

Meredith eyed her critically, searching for the right words to say. "A cardio surgeon can't go into a patient's room expecting to prep, cut and send them home, especially when you are working on a person's heart. The patient will be scared and sometimes explaining a procedure isn't enough, your job as a surgeon is to set them at ease…you don't see Burke leaving the room right after he tells someone that he needs to cut into their chest and sew up their heart do you?"

Christina shook her head, but she still looked like she didn't quite understand what her chief was saying. "Christina…I need to know that when I assign you to this field of surgery that I can trust you to deal with a patient's vulnerability. They come to us for answers and our job isn't just to cut…think about it and then come talk to me in my office."

Meredith quickly left the resident still standing in the middle of the hallway and noticed that Izzie was walking towards her.

"Dr Grey, can I talk to you?"

Izzie turned around and kept pace with the hurried surgeon.

"What is it Stevens?"

"Umm it's about neuro…"

Meredith nodded and looked over at the young doctor. "Yes I know that you want to head into the field, you already talked to me about it remember…that's why you're assigned to Dr Sheppard."

Izzie smiled and breathed out a sigh of relief, "Thank you Dr Grey, I just needed to make sure that you weren't going to change your mind about it, this is something I have thought about a lot and I know it's what I want to do. And…ummm…I was wondering if I could still work cases with you?"

Wrapping her stethoscope around her neck more securely, Meredith smiled at the resident. "Yes, I'm sure you would need to see different surgeons take on the specialty so it won't be a problem. I wouldn't have put you there if I wasn't sure. Now do you know where Karev is?"

Izzie stopped suddenly and narrowed her eyes nervously, ringing her hands back and forth. "Alex…umm no why would I know where he is? There isn't any reason for me to know, I mean he is an ass right? So no reason to know…do I look like I would know?"

Meredith frowned, stopping to stare at Stevens confusingly, wondering why the hell she was so nervous and jittery. "I'm not sure, Stevens…I'm asking since you residents seem to stick together, and I need to know so that he can declare a field…"

Smiling shakily, Izzie held up a hand to cover her heart and nodded, her checks flaming when she realized what a fool she must have looked in front of her boss. "Oh…sorry Chief….umm last time I heard he was being requested by Dr Sloan for a breast reduction."

The blond smiled and waved farewell to the flustered resident, smiling when she realized Izzie's discomfort must have been for a reason…but since it wasn't her business she would never know unless it come back to her somehow. Meredith quickly set off to find the two surgeons on the fourth floor, hoping that they weren't in surgery already, or that they were done. She smiled again to herself, wondering why it seemed that she kept running into the plastic surgeon today.

~..~..~..~..~..~..~..~

Meredith slowly approached the operating table where Dr Sloan and Dr Karev worked on the breast reduction in front of them, Mark staying silent and Alex humming quietly to himself. She smiled when she noticed that every time the resident hummed a reoccurring chorus in the song, Mark would flinch and glare heatedly at the younger doctor; who didn't even glance away from the complex stitches he was working on. She watched them a few more seconds before quietly clearing her throat. Mark's head shot up at the sound, his hands still working with the scalpel and his annoyed eyes changed to an amused curious ones.

"Yes Chief?"

"Can I borrow Dr Karev for a few minutes? Or should I wait until you are finished here to talk to him?" Meredith grinned at the plastic surgeon, "Of course I could let him be seeing as you are performing such an amazing surgery…but if you can't possibly spare him…."

Mark's eyes visibly narrowed in her direction before wincing again at the catchy new tune the resident had started under his breath, completely unaware that his boss's boss was in the OR with them and talking about him. "Take him please…"

She waited for a second before switching her amused gaze over to Alex, "Karev."

The surgeon literally jumped and nervously placed his instrument in the waiting hands of the scrub nurse. He turned around with startled eyes and looked between Meredith and Mark, "Yes."

"The chief has requested your presence Karev…I suggest you listen to her when she is talking to you."

Alex ducked his head sheepishly for a second before recovering and walking towards the scrub room, pulling his gloves off in the process.

Meredith eyed him for a bit and then turned back to Mark, who had resumed his dissection. She watched as he neatly cut in to the flesh around the exposed chest and work with nimble fingers to take out certain un-needed muscle.

"Is there something else you need Dr Grey?"

Her startled green eyes met his silver ones over the heads of the nurses standing between them and she felt the slight blush that crept on to her cheeks; luckily the mask covered the lower half of her face from view. She gazed at him for a second and then nodded her head lightly.

"Yes, if Karev chooses plastics are you willing to let him shadow you or do I need to find another surgeon who will allow it?"

Mark looked thoughtful, as he scrutinized the body in front of him, mentally weighing his options of getting a permanent resident as opposed to the pick of the day. "There interns attached?"

"Well Karev's interns will be around yes and since I know what you are looking for them to do I suspect that Karev would be more willing to lend you one if you wanted if he chooses this field…"

He turned amused, crinkling eyes up to her and then nodded his head slightly, returning to his work. "I don't see why not…having personal servants whenever I feel like it seems rather nice…not that I don't have that already."

Meredith laughed and shook her head, as she walked away to find Alex who was waiting opposite the doors of the scrub area. "Of course…personal servants…" She heard his chuckles while she left and then the abrupt cut off of the sounds as the door clicked into place. Dropping the mask into the waste bucket, she walked quickly out the outer doors and turned to the resident who looked anxious and annoyed at the same time. She smiled and motioned for him to follow her as they made their way up to deck and the coffee cart. Noticing his confused glance, she gestured to the waiting stand and smiled again.

"Haven't had my afternoon's dose of caffeine yet, figured we could talk while I wait. Now I'm sure you know why I am here right?"

Alex nodded but remained silent, a thoughtful look on his face as he continued to match her slow pace.

"Well…do you have an answer yet or still unsure? I know you mentioned plastics and Dr Sloan has agreed that if you want to further in that field he will let you shadow. But if you want to explore another specialty I will understand."

She quickly placed her order to the man standing behind the cart and then turned to face the resident. Alex still looked thoughtful but now more confused, as if he was torn with what decision he would voice. Meredith studied him silently for a bit before she took in an amused breath and crossed her arms over her chest.

"I have seen your work in plastics; quite promising. You would make an excellent plastics surgeon Karev…but then I have also heard from Dr Montgomery how you excelled at neo natal under tutelage as an intern and some as a resident. Both are quite fulfilling specialties…very different from the other, but admirable work nonetheless."

Alex had blushed considerably at her mention of neo natal and Addison and had shifted on his feet, crossing his own arms in irritation at his choice.

"I honestly don't know yet Chief…is it alright if I get back to you later on today?"

Meredith nodded and gave the resident a knowing look while she grabbed her coffee and paid the guy. She sipped happily on her hot drink and breathed in; thinking about what she was going to say to him. "You know Karev it took me awhile until I knew that I wanted to go into neuro…"

Alex shot her a disbelieving look and crossed his arms. "You chief? Your like the most famous neurosurgeon in the west coast and you did it all under the age of 35."

She grinned and laughed at his expression. "Yeah but I wasn't always like that…believe it or not I was a very awkward teen and an even more awkward intern not knowing which field l liked best; general, peds, or neuro. But when I performed my first craniotomy with an attendings help during my third year of residency I knew that I wouldn't be able to go into any other field." Glancing over at his now thoughtful look again she smiled and leaned against the railing. "It kind of chose me Karev, and I think you know which one chose you…"

He nodded and looked about to say something but was interrupted by a running Addison who pushed past Alex and grabbed onto Meredith's free arm.

"Mere you have to help me!"

Meredith closed her open mouth and glanced at Karev who looked like he was going to burst out laughing. She shrugged off Addison's hands and straightened to glare at her friend. "Karev I think we are done here I'm sure Dr Sloan is looking for you. Come to my office later with your choice." Out of the corner of her eye she saw him nod and turn around, shaking his head at his bosses. "Addie what is going on?"

Addison, who realized she was making a scene in front of the nurses and doctors walking past them, straightened her skirt and lab coat before turning panicked eyes to Meredith. "Archer."

Meredith's own eyes widened considerably at the name and she grabbed Addie's arm, tugging her into the stair case. "What about him? I haven't seen him since we were residents."

The red head brushed a piece of loose hair from her otherwise perfect up-do and dropped her arms as if in defeat. "Yeah I know me too, he was off in a different country for a while and then he called a couple of months ago saying he was back in the states..."

Mere leaned back on the wall and studied her best friend. She was still in the outfit she was wearing this morning; blue pencil skirt and checkered black and white blouse, not having to change yet since her surgery wasn't scheduled for another half hour. Her bright blue eyes were rather shadowed as if she hadn't gotten enough sleep last night but then that was a surgeon's curse; little to no sleep. But it didn't really matter to a woman like Addison Montgomery since she was the kind of person who woke up perfect, regardless. Meredith had learned to pick up that particular skill of her friend's when they were roommates in med school and they both had to wake up at 5 every morning to attend classes.

"What does that have to do with me helping you now?"

"He is coming here, now, Mere!"

Addison put her hands on her hips and glared at some spot on the wall near Meredith's head. "I thought you said that he called to tell you he was here a couple months ago….why is he all of a sudden deciding to visit now?"

"I don't know maybe it's because he heard you were back home…"

Meredith's eyes widened further if it was possible and she slowly brushed her loose hair away from her face. "But why would that matter?"

Addison switched her glare to her friend and narrowed her eyes. "God, Mere are you that dumb? You're his little sister too! And the second he learned that you had gotten the chief position he just _needed_ to come see for his self. Like you said he hasn't seen you in years and now you turn up at the hospital where I work and steal chief from everyone here…He loves that kind of thing!"

Mere's eyes closed and she dropped her head back onto the wall behind her trying to think of reasons she would be able to avoid Archer until he had satisfied his curiosity. She opened them to see Addison still glaring at her and she smiled sheepishly in her direction. "He is your brother…tell him to go home."

Scoffing loudly, Addie moved to lean against the same wall Meredith was and sighed loudly. "Since when has he ever listened to me? Mom and Dad don't know what to do with him and he knows it…besides he is older and I think he won't listen to me even if I wanted him to." She looked pointedly at Meredith and waited until the horrified expression crossed her face.

"You want ME to tell him to go home?"

"Well yeah! He is coming here because of you."

"Yeah right, Addie he might not be my biological brother but he sure as hell acts like it and what makes you think that if he won't listen to you he will to me?"

Addison stuttered for a second before she closed her own eyes in defeat. "I guess we are screwed huh?"

Meredith sighed and brought herself to a standing position, facing her friend and groaning when she realized that he would be coming here, to her hospital. "The hospital isn't ready for the hell fire that is Archer Montgomery…"

Addison grinned sheepishly, uncrossing her arms and lightly placing them on Meredith's shoulders. "That's the thing Mere…you don't really have time to prepare…"

"What do you mean I don't have time?"

Blue eyes met green apologetically and Meredith backed up a little so that she hit the railing on the other side. "You didn't."

"I'm sorry! He didn't leave me with a choice, it was either right now or later on today…I figured if I warned you he was going to be here then it would be fine."

Meredith groaned again, thinking about how rain really was the catalyst to her ruined day…now all she needed was another trauma emergency and it would be set; worst day in Seattle yet. Before she had said anything about Archer impending visit, George O'Malley came bounding up the stairs near her and skidded to a stop in front of Meredith. She waited impatiently for the resident to catch his breath before she glared at Addison and faced George.

"Is there something you need Dr O'Malley?"

George nodded his head repeatedly, still catching his breath and handed her a couple of folders without saying anything. Meredith took them and flipped through them, briefly glancing at what was highlighted in green marker. When she got to a certain point on in the middle of the second folders she looked up with worried eyes at her resident.

"This is confirmed?"

"Yes, they brought the bodies here and were announced DOA. They were identified by the picture ID's with their personal possessions."

She sighed loudly and began to walk the direction that George had just run from. Meredith paused for a second and then glanced over her shoulder to see a confused Addison in the same position she had left her in. "I'm not done here Addie…"

Addison smiled and shrugged her shoulders before starting to walk over to the door they had come through. "Well we can discuss it later since we have lunch at Joes and you're required to attend."

Meredith gritted her teeth in irritation but just nodded her head that she understood while she deliberately quickened her pace down the stairs, George following her closely.

"Does he know?"

George looked up quickly at her before twisting his face into an expression of confusion. "Excuse me?"

"Has someone told him both his parents are dead?"

She saw him wince when she spoke the word 'dead' but he straightened his face before shaking his head sadly. Meredith nodded and continued down the hallway they had walked into. She knew how it felt to be told both your parents had been killed and she wasn't looking forward to telling a little boy that both his parents hadn't made it through the crash but he had somehow been saved.


	4. Chapter 4

**-~-~-~ Thanks for the reviews guys! I'm not too happy with this chapter but I guess I can live with it, I was going through somewhat of a writers block and between finals last month with college and then my new job I didn't have too much time to devote to clearing the block sooo lol yeah. But I'm back now and I should update sometime towards the end of this week or next. **

**Hope you like it!**

**Reviews make my day!**

**Chapter 4**

Meredith leaned her scrub covered lithe body against the wall next to Trevor's room and shook her head wearily. When they had told the kid his parents didn't make it through the train crash he had looked so confused and helpless that she was forced to step closer and grab his hand in hers because she knew all too well what it was like. And since she knew she had waited, silently, until the look of horror and sadness so deep that it was so horribly wrong on a seven year old child she couldn't help but cringe.

People, especially ones that young, weren't supposed to feel sadness like that and it was so immoral to think that she had to be the one to deliver news to people who didn't deserve it…hell the kid didn't even know his last name. What right did she have to spoil the rest of his life by telling him he didn't have family to turn to when he needed them the most? _Nothing…_and it was something she could honestly say she hated about her line of work.

"Dr Grey? Chief?"

Her eyes snapped open and she gave O'Malley a half hearted smile, still not moving her body from the slouched form she had put it into. "Yes Dr O'Malley?"

"Is there anything I could do…I mean for Trevor…or you. You know it's not a problem for me if you need something since I am your resident today…not that it would bother me if you didn't need anything…it's just. Crap I should shut up huh?"

She had watched him fidget with the chart in his hands and she brought her green eyes to study his chocolate brown eyes; eyes that matched the short buzzed hair he was sporting and the warmth of his embarrassed smile. Meredith felt like this resident wasn't just a fumbling idiot with a medical license…not like some of the doctors she had been forced to work with back at her old job. This doctor standing nervously in front of her actually cared…hadn't been corrupted by too many deaths and too little sleep that eventually led to strained relationships with friends, families and lovers...that is if they weren't able to handle the life of a surgeon. This resident, this man, wasn't ready to give up on his dream and it gladdened her to know that there were doctors still around that were like that.

"Its fine…I'm just tired that's all. Ummm….there is something you could do for me if you want to."

George nodded his head rapidly, an almost loyal dog look in his eyes that made her laugh mentally at how far this resident would go to please just about anyone.

"Watch Trevor throughout the day, keep him company since I seem to be otherwise occupied. I don't want him alone for long periods of a time…he just found out his parents were killed and he doesn't even remember who they are, just that he will never meet them again."

George shot a sympathetic glance at the door before turning to nod respectively at her request. "I would be happy to Dr Grey…what about my other patients?"

Meredith shrugged and lifted herself from the wall, walking towards the elevator and her office. "I'm sure one of the other residents would be able to take them off your hands, if not just tell them it's an order from the chief…they won't have much to complain about then."

She didn't wait to see his reaction or to hear his answer since she stepped onto the open and empty elevator, pressing the small button for the floor to her office. If she was going to attend this stupid lunch with Addison and Archer then she would at least do it looking good and not like she had just stepped out of an on call room, sleeping on the small beds for not enough hours. Which she technically hadn't; switch the small bed with her large hotel one and the on call room for her hotel one and you get the only difference.

Closing her eyes, she thought back to the kid's reaction to her news and winced when it brought back memories she was hoping to avoid all together. What had happened to Trevor wasn't really what had happened to her and her parents but it might as well have been since it was certainly seemed close enough.

She waited until the elevator doors opened and revealed her floor. She brusquely walked towards her office lost in her thoughts.

"Dr Grey?"

Meredith sighed and stopped her pace, surveying the waiting nurse. _What is it with people interrupting her thoughts today? First it was Sloan and then O'Malley and Addie…and now this…geez. _

"Yes."

The red haired nurse shifted on her feet a little bit without looking at her for very long, almost as if she was afraid of Meredith. "Ummm Dr Montgomery wanted me to, ummm, remind you about the lunch. She told me you would know what I am talking about."

Meredith narrowed her eyes but thanked the nurse, waving her off to go somewhere else while she continued her way to her office down the hall. She opened the door and smiled at Richard who was sitting in her chair again.

"Do you miss this office or something? I always see you in here when I'm not."

Richard laughed and shrugged his shoulders. "Not really my office anymore…too modern for my taste anyways." He eyed her annoyed face and lifted himself from her chair and made his way over to stand next to her. "What's up Meredith?"

She smiled at him but ignored the question, moving to grab her skirt and shirt she had put off to the side to dry a couple of hours ago. "Nothing."

He scoffed loudly and moved to turn his back so that he wasn't watching as she pulled her scrub shirt off and replaced it with the teal tank and black dress jacket. "I know that's not true Mere, I practically raised you…I know the difference between nothing and something."

She glanced over at his turned back and grimaced. She wasn't really one to hide something from him but in this case she didn't want him worrying about her reminiscing about her parents. So instead, she took a deep breath and pulled her bottoms off, wriggling into her skirt. "Archer's back."

Richard let out a deep bellow of a laugh and nodded his head as if that explained everything. "Ah yes, Archer…too bad we already have the best neurosurgeon available, not to mention Sheppard too, or else I would suggest you give him a job."

Meredith glared at him in disbelief and slipped her feet into the high heels. "Never.…I refuse to even work in the same hospital as that man whore…knowing him is bad enough, being his so called little sister is even worse but I put my foot down when it comes to sharing an OR."

He chuckled again, turning to watch as she fixed her hair in the mirror on the other side of her closed door. She turned around and did a 360 in front of him, silently asking him if she was presentable. He nodded with an amused quirk of his eyebrow."You going some where's Chief?"

"Lunch with Addie. I have been eating this place's food for the past few weeks…I think I deserve real food now and then…besides I was kind of roped into going with her."

He raised his other eyebrow and laughed when she shot him a look of resentment. "Well go then, don't want Addison waiting for you too long."

She laughed and shrugged her shoulder, grabbing her purse in the process. "Yeah I guess we can't have that, can we? I'm not sure when I will be back, my pager is with me soo don't worry I'm sure it won't be long before I am called away from the loving arms of my other family!"

As Meredith walked out quickly she could make out his deep laughter behind her, and she smiled in response. Shrugging away her worry and memories that came with telling Trevor about his parents, she decided to take the stairs instead of the elevator since she didn't want to run into people with questions and problems. This was her break and she intended to take full advantage of it.

--

The first thing Meredith noticed about Joe's Emerald city bar was that it wasn't the type of packed, crazy bar that she had figured it would be. The walls were covered in photos of people Meredith didn't recognize and some that she did; this place seemed to be a Seattle Grace doctor hotspot. She glanced around at the different out of season decorations, not knowing why they worked in this place but somehow they gave off a more comfortable aura than her parent's house during Christmas.

The bar tender noticed her and waved slightly, no doubt wondering at the new meat walking through his doors and she smiled at him, not helping it that her lips curved involuntarily when she looked at him. He was probably one of those people who were loved where ever they went; ones who were natural bar owners.

Her attention drifted to the few people who were in the bar during lunch time and smiled when she realized that it was going to be just her, Addie and Archer since the bar looked pretty empty. _Good_, she didn't want a lot of people here when Archer came; his excitement tended to be more than people were used to.

Seeing that Addie or Archer wasn't there yet, Meredith decided to order a quick drink from the bar tender, maybe talk a little bit before she was engulfed in memories of times past. She quickly made her way over to the bar, taking a sit near the end of the table, smiling at the man as he put down the glass he had been washing and walk over to her.

"So what'll it be?"

Meredith eyed the shelves lined with numerous liquor bottles and sighed heavily. "Water with a lime, if you don't mind."

The man nodded but shot her a questioning glance. "No real drinks?"

Smiling she shook her head and turned to look at the exit, "Nope as much as I wish I didn't, I have to go back to work after this soooo no alcohol."

While he busied himself cutting her lime, he gave her curious looks, no doubt trying to figure her out like all other bar tenders did; it was their job to figure their customers out. "Joe."

Meredith narrowed her eyes in question before realizing what he meant. "Oh, yeah I kind of figured since the sign out front and everything. Meredith Grey."

He nodded and smiled again, handing her the water and lime. "So Meredith Grey what is it exactly, this job of yours, that forbids you to have a good drink in my excellent bar?"

"Chief of Surgery."

Joe whistles softly and leaned against the bar in front of her. "So you're The Meredith Grey…heard about you from every other doctor that comes into this place. Can't say it's all good things that I hear though."

She grins wirily and took a sip of her drink, "Comes with the job description…"

He nods, throwing her a sympathetic look, "From what I see you don't seem all that scary and intimidating."

"I'm not? Hmmm well I guess I have to work on that." Her grin widens and so does his.

"How do you like Seattle?" He catches her questioning glance and shrugs his shoulders. "Hey, I'm not a doctor but I work with enough of them to know that famous neurosurgeon Meredith Grey didn't live here."

Meredith laughed and returned his shrug. "Still getting used to it, haven't figured out how everyone can stand this much rain all the time…It's crazy."

Before Joe could say anything else Addison came rushing through the doors and hopped onto the stool next to Meredith, quickly ordering a mojito and turning excited eyes to her friend.

"Guess what? We don't have to contain Archer by ourselves anymore!"

Meredith raised an amused eyebrow and took a sip of her water. "Should you really be drinking in front of your boss? And what are you talking about?"

Addison smiled happily to Joe as he placed her drink in front of her and went to take care of another customer who was sitting on the other end of the bar. "I'm not working right now and neither are you, so no boss-thing okay? Besides I'm not working after this either, no surgeries and no on calls. I can drink all I want! Unlike you who has to be sober for everything."

Smirking at the arrogant tone Addie was pretending to use, Meredith spun in her seat to fully face her friend repeating the second part of her earlier question. Addison smiled again and took a delicate gulp from her glass.

"Mark, Derek and Callie have decided to join us for lunch."

Meredith choked back on her water and stared at Addison incredulously. "They what?! Addison that's three of my attendings away from my hospital and not counting me and you! Who the hell is watching the place? Residents?"

Addison flicked her hands in dismissal, eyeing her best friend's reaction. "Don't worry about it, I got Richard to cover it…he was more than happy when I told him that it was so you could socialize with our coworkers…instead of hiding in that little shell of yours."

"I do not have a shell, Addie. Besides I have friends…"

The red head snorted and shook her head. "I don't count, and neither do the ones in Sans. I mean here, Mere…you live in a hotel and the hospital is pretty much all the social life you have gotten in the last month or so, and that's just sad."

Meredith narrowed her eyes in annoyance and huffed, "That is not sad, I just moved here and I'm Chief of Surgery…I have every reason to choose not to socialize. And the hotel is temporary, you know that!"

Addison just rolled her eyes but didn't say anything as the door opened and the three attendings strolled in laughing and talking amongst themselves.

Meredith quickly leaned over and whispered lightly, "Do they know Archer?"

Addison laughed and pointed to the two men walking towards them, "They do, but Callie doesn't. She has heard of him though."

The blond nodded and turned back to stare into her drink as the new members of the lunch took seats at a circular table, motioning for the two women to join them. She watched as Joe smiled and talked to them like he had known them forever, while he ordered their drinks. Meredith smiled at Addison, who was tugging her hand to move over to the table. She explained that she was going to order food for them and that she would join them after. Addison nodded her understanding but shot her a look of promise.

Meredith sighed and fished around in her purse for her cell phone. When she had it in her hand she let out a sigh of frustration when she realized she had no idea what the number was for any good restaurants. "Hey Joe?"

She waited as he stopped talking to some other customer and made his way over to her, glancing down at her water to see if she needed more. When he saw she didn't, he looked down at her questioningly.

"I have to order lunch for six people…and I have no clue which place is good or even what to order…"

He smiled at her flustered appearance and tapped his head thoughtfully. "Why don't you let me order something for you guys?"

Meredith looked up from her phone in surprise and gratitude for the bar tender; she barely knew him and already he was turning into her favorite guy in Seattle. "You sure you want to? I mean…"

"No its fine Meredith, I know these guys pretty well and I know this city extremely well soooo I think I can order lunch. Go have fun."

She nodded slowly and gave him one of her bright smiles. "Alright, thanks so much Joe! Here I'll give you my card, just tell them to bill it to my debit."

He smiled back at her and took the plastic card she held up, turning around to head over to his own phone, a contemplative look on his face…no doubt thinking of a place to get their food from.

Meredith grabbed her drink and smiled at Addison, who was watching her from her seat across the room. She slowly made her way over to the group watching at Callie smiled and waved at her and the other two men nodded familiarly in her direction. Dropping into her seat she returned the smiles.

"So when is the food going to get here?"

Meredith turned to look at Derek who had voiced the question and tilted her head, gesturing to Joe, who was currently talking to someone on the phone. "Joe wanted to take care of it so I don't really know."

Addison grinned, taking a sip from her drink and nudging Meredith with her healed foot. "You had no clue where to order did you?"

Blushing slightly, she shook her head and laughed lightly at herself. "Only lived in Seattle for a little bit…though I have my hotel room service memorized…I sadly am not fluent when it comes to take out menus."

Mark laughed, "I know the feeling, when I moved here I lived on the same stuff."

Shaking his head, Derek pointed to Mark accusingly, "That's not the only thing you lived on."

Mark smirked at the innuendo and tilted his head in acceptance. Meredith wondered exactly what that meant but looking at the man's good looks she had a feeling she knew exactly what had been referred to. She sipped again at her water and listened quietly to the spirited ramble of her co workers.

"So Chief, what brings you away from the confines of the hospital?"

Meredith turned to look at Mark who was seated next to her, and realized the others were involved in their own conversations while she had remained quiet. She grimaced and fingered her glass. "Family reunion...sort of."

His brows furrowed for a second and he gestured to Addison. "I thought it was her brother that was coming to visit."

"It is…it's kind of complicated but me and Addie lived together during med school and intern days, so her family grew to be my family too. Or so they tell me anyways."

Mark nodded and shifted in his seat a little so that he could look at her better. "Yeah I know what you mean; Derek and I have that kind of thing too."

Smiling, Meredith sipped her water again and frowned when she saw that she was pretty much out of liquid. She pushed it away from her and leaned back in her seat.

"You're living in a hotel huh? Not planning on staying very long in our lovely city?"

Turning her head, she studied him for a second and then shrugged her thin shoulders slightly. "No I plan on staying even though it rains every damn day…" She stopped for a second and scowled at his amused expression. "I just haven't had time to look for any place yet…though the town houses near the water seem nice."

He smiled, admiring the thoughtful frown her green eyes were giving him, as she explained that she had always loved the water; one of her reasons for living on the west coast. "So you love water, and yet hate the rain…I don't really understand you Meredith Grey."

Meredith snorted and raised her eyebrow, "Maybe I don't want to be understood."

Mark shook his head, grinning at the playful tone her voice had changed to. "Every woman wants to be understood."

"Oh and you know this from experience?"

He laughed, pointing a finger at Addison, Callie and Meredith. "Yes I am very good at reading people…especially woman."

Callie chose this time to jump in, "You only 'read' women to get in their pants."

Addison laughed, "The only thing you're good at apparently."

Mark held his hands up in denial, "Hey! I am a damn good plastic surgeon…the fact that I have such great natural facial features is just a bonus. Besides, Derek here is just as bad as I am."

Derek narrowed his eyes, "How so? I do not do one night stands for every night of the week."

"Oh yeah? Then why are the nurses naming you Mcdreamy? Can't be because you're innocently pure right?" Mark was leaning forward in his seat, grinning at the slight blush on the other man's face.

"I…I…I have no clue why they call me that."

Addison sniggered softly and mock-glared at the two men, "You both are horrible womanizers…and Derek you know exactly why they call you that."

Derek scoffed, smirking in the red head's direction, "Not like your any better Addison."

Meredith lifted her eyes to stare at her friend skeptically, as if she hadn't heard right when she listened to the reproachful tint on the last part. She looked over at Callie who was staring at the two surgeons like she knew exactly what was going on. Callie noticed Meredith's stare and gestured to the empty glass of water and back to the bar. Meredith nodded and picked it up, excusing herself to get a refill from Joe, Callie following her.

When they both were out of ear shot, Meredith raised her eyebrows and waved behind them. "Did I miss something back there?"

Callie laughed softly and pushed their glasses towards Joe, smiling at him in the process. "Gin and whatever is in hers." She turned her eyes back to focus on Meredith nodding to her question. "Yeah, Derek and Addison have a history when it comes to relationships and everything."

Frowning, Meredith thanked the bar tender, sipping her new drink slowly. "So they dated?"

Callie shook her head, grabbing her own glass. "Nope never, but they sort of have this thing between the two of them…like…I don't know..."

"Like they undress each other with their eyes all the time thing right?"

"Who's undressing who and can I join?"

Meredith sighed disgustedly, knowing that if it was anyone who would catch the last part, it would be Mark Sloan. "Addie and.."

Mark laughed, handing Joe his drink, and leaning against the stool near Meredith. "Derek. Yeah I know. Jumping down each other's throat all the time…it's their thing."

Meredith nodded, gazing contemplatively at her friend, "Why don't they date or whatever?"

Callie shrugged and said over her shoulder, as she made her way back to the table, "No one knows, maybe now that you're here, you can make it happen."

Frowning again, Meredith followed Callie with her eyes and watched as she joined in on the conversation with the other two surgeons. "Is it just me or did I just sense a hint of resentment…"

Mark turned to stare at who she was talking about but he just shook his head as if the reason Callie had said what she did should be obvious to the other woman. "It wasn't just you."

Meredith smiled briefly the look Addison was shooting her across the room and turned back to study the man next to her. "What did I do?"

"You're here."

She scowled, "That's hardly a reason."

Mark narrowed his eyes down at her and took a swing of his drink. "Are you really that naive or are you just pretending to not notice?"

Meredith sighed and grimaced, understanding exactly what Mark was alluding to, "I guess I do get it but….I can't do anything about being Chief and I certainly won't apologize for it. The job was offered to me and I would be a complete idiot not to accept it…."

He laughed and gave his head a quick shake in a dismissal of her words. "That's not why Callie is acting like that."

She tilted her head questioningly to the side and her eyes drifted to the now laughing orthopedic surgeon. "Hmmmm I don't remember insulting her during the month that I have been here, and to tell the truth this is the first time I have talked to her outside of the hospital…so I'm not sure what I did."

Mark shrugged again, smiling at the look of concentration on his boss's face. "It's not something you could have helped…and it's not your fault either. Your Addison's best friend." With that he walked back over to the table, easily inserting himself back into the conversation as if he hadn't even left.

Meredith sighed and rubbed her left temple in irritation; because she was Addie's friend, Callie didn't like her? She shook her head and began to walk in the direction of the group until she heard the door to the bar bang open and a pair of bright blue eyes and short brown hair.

"Meri!"


End file.
